Police watchdog's investigations spike

Charges stemming from SIU probes remain rare

SIU

SIDEBAR

Ontario’s police watchdog is keeping a closer eye on officers than ever before, launching a record number of investigations last year into everything from firearm deaths to sexual assault complaints.

Created in 1990 to probe police-civilian incidents involving death or serious injury, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which oversees 28,000 officers across the province, has become increasingly active in recent years, new data shows.

Compiled by the SIU, the statistics demonstrate that charges have been laid in a total of 126 cases — fewer than 3 per cent of all investigations.

But the probes are becoming much more frequent. After sinking to an all-time low of 136 in 2004, the number of investigations climbed to 382 in 2012, an increase of 180 per cent.

“The number of investigations (has) increased significantly over the SIU’s 22 years of existence,” SIU director Ian Scott said. “I would attribute this to a better understanding within the police community of the role of the SIU combined with an increased number of contacts from the media, lawyers and complainants.”

The statistics were released amid criticism of SIU operations from the Toronto Police Association and the Ottawa Police Association. In the past week, the heads of both police unions have called for an independent inquiry into the way SIU conducts its investigations.

Ottawa Police Association president Matt Skof, who is upset about the SIU’s decision to probe a Feb. 20 murder-suicide, said he is “not surprised” by the numbers.

“If you look at the call in Ottawa … that’s now going to be part of the stat,” he said.

According to Scott, the unit invoked its mandate in that case because Ottawa police refused to release 911 tapes and dispatch information without a written request from SIU.

“In order for us to send the written request, we formally opened an investigation that day into the matter,” he said.

The increase in investigations has been particularly pronounced in the area of sexual assault complaints, which have risen fairly steadily in recent years, from 12 in 2004 to 49 in 2012.

This could be due to an increased awareness of the SIU, and the fact that many complaints in this category are “historical,” with members of the public reporting incidents years after they are alleged to have occurred, Scott said.

There has also been a substantial jump in investigations into serious injuries allegedly inflicted on individuals in police custody, which hit a high of 229 last year.

Scott said this may be the result of more police services using the SIU’s definition of serious injuries, which include “those that are likely to interfere with the health or comfort of the victim.”

“The bar is a bit lower than the definition they may have used beforehand,” Scott said.

The SIU did not provide an annual breakdown of investigations prior to 1993. From 1990 to 1992, there were 260 investigations. Charges were laid in 6.5 per cent of cases, the highest rate on record.

At the other end of the spectrum, in 1995 and 2005, charges were laid in less than 1 per cent of cases.

The statistics echo the findings of a 2010 Star investigation, which observed that SIU hardly ever lays charges, and even when it does, police very rarely go to jail.

Scott, who has been director since Oct. 2008, said his charge rate has “remained consistent,” at about 4 per cent of all cases investigated.

“Is this too high or too low? I don’t know,” he said. “What I do know is that I assess each case individually. If I am of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds … I am statutorily bound to cause a charge to be laid.”

On average, nearly 20 per cent of the probes conducted each year involved Toronto police.

Toronto Police Association president Mike McCormack, who on Friday demanded Scott’s resignation over his handling of two court cases in which officers were later acquitted, said he is not bothered by the frequency of investigations.